Ratchet plow-stock.



No. 68!,596. Patented Aug. 27, I901. T. M. WALLACE.

BA'TEHET PLow sTocK.

(Application filed Apr. 5, 1901.)

(No Model.)

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ATTORNEYS THOMAS MADISON IVALLAOE, OF MARION, ALABAMA.

RATCl-l ET PLOW STOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters ZEatent No. 681,596, dated August 27, 1901. Application filed April 5, 1901. Serial No. 54,457. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS MADISON WAL- LACE, residing at Marion, in the county of Perry and State of Alabama, have made certain new and usefullmprovements in Ratchet Plow-Stocks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in a class of shovel-plows having a foot or standard which is pivoted,and thereby adapted for adjustment to vary its inclination and the depth of furrow made by the shovel or share, and is also provided with means for looking it in any required position.

The invention is embodied in the construction and combination of parts hereinafter described, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side View of a plow embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 an enlarged vertical section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side view showing a modification.

Referring, in the first instance, to Figs. 1 and 2, the rear end of the stock or beam A, which may be constructed of iron, has an approximate U shape, and handles B are secured to the extremity of such curved portion, as shown.

The slightly-cuiwed foot or standard 0 is composed of two like parts or bars, between which the beam A passes. It is pivoted at 0t, just below its middle, to the heel of or point of the beam A and by adjusting its upper end forward or back the vertical angle of the foot as a whole may be changed at will. Such adjustment and also locking of the foot at any required angle are provided for by the following means:

An arc-shaped ratchet-plate D is secured to the beam A and a pawl or detentE is pivoted to the foot 0 and engages the said ratchet, as shown. The ratchet D is right angular in cross-section and its upper side is formed upon the area of a circle struck from the pivot 04 of the foot 0. Its teeth, which project rearward, are formed upon the part that overlaps or lies upon the beam A. The pendent portion or flange of the plate D lies fiat against the side of the beam A and is riveted thereto. The pawl E is forked, having thus two points or prongs, each of which is adapted to engage the ratchet. Thus the pawl may be used with either prong down, and the upper one serves as a finger-piece for use in raising the pawl when required for effecting a forward adjustment of the foot 0. The pivot F of the pawl E is a screw-bolt, which passes transversely through the bars composing the foot or standard 0 and is provided with a milled thumb-nut G, as shown in Fig. 2. WVashers H are interposed between the foot-bars O and pawl E, so that when the nut G is screwed up the bars of the foot 0 are pressed inward against the beam A and ratchet D, so that the foot is held immovably in place. It is apparent that upon loosening the nut G the parts 0 E will be free for adjustment forward or back, as may be desired.

In Fig. 3 the beam A and ratchet D are shown constructed integrally. In other Words, the ratchet is formed on the crown or are of the beam, a separate plate being dispensed with. In either case, however, the ratchet contributes to the strength of the plow-beam where it is applied.

WVhat I claim is- 1. The improved plow comprisinga beam, a foot or standard pivoted substantially as specified, a ratchet on the beam curved concentrically with the pivot of said foot, and a pawl pivoted to the top of the foot and having a prong which engages the ratchet and a second prong projecting forward over the other, and means for securing and clamping the pawl, substantially as shown and described.

2. The improved plow comprising a curved beam, a foot or standard pivoted to the lower end of the curved portion and formed of two parts which extend upward on both sides of the beam, a ratchet arranged on the beam concentrically with the pivot of the foot, a threaded bolt passing through the upper ends of the foot-bars, a thumb-nut applied to the same, and a pawl pivoted on said bolt. and adapted to engage the ratchet, the pawl being forked as shown and adapted to be clamped by the bolt and nut, as and for the purpose specified.

THOMAS MADISON WALLACE.

"Witnesses:

L. L. LEE, JAMES B. J owns. 

